German grammar: Präteritum von sein und haben

What this grammar point covers

The Präteritum is the simple past tense in German. 'Sein' (to be) and 'haben' (to have) have special forms in the Präteritum. These forms are used to talk about things that happened in the past.

When to use it

In German, the Präteritum forms of 'sein' and 'haben' are often used in written texts, stories, and reports to describe past events or situations. In spoken German, they are also common for these two verbs.

Key forms

• ich war / ich hatte
• du warst / du hattest
• er/sie/es war / er/sie/es hatte
• wir waren / wir hatten
• ihr wart / ihr hattet
• sie/Sie waren / sie/Sie hatten

Examples

Tips

• Remember that 'sein' and 'haben' are irregular in the Präteritum.
• Use these forms especially when writing stories or talking about the past.
• Do not use 'haben' or 'sein' with 'ge-' in the Präteritum.

Exceptions and edge cases

• 'Sein' and 'haben' do not follow the regular patterns of most verbs in the Präteritum.